Introduction to the Three Major Coffee Bean Varieties: Are Premium Arabica Coffee Beans Expensive?

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

Coffee Bean Varieties and Arabica Coffee Sharing by FrontStreet Coffee

Arabica varieties account for approximately 70% of the world's total production, equivalent to the nobility among coffee bean varieties. They have higher requirements for climate temperature and humidity, require more advanced cultivation techniques, but due to their pleasant aroma and rich flavor, they have always been the best-selling variety worldwide, accounting for about 70% of global production. However, their growth cycle is very slow, taking nearly 5 years to yield harvest, so they are mostly used for specialty coffee.

Robusta varieties account for the remaining 30% of world production, with a status equivalent to rural farmers. They are hardy, have strong survival capabilities, can withstand high and low temperatures, and have a slightly bitter flavor. Their caffeine content is 2-3 times that of Arabica varieties. They typically grow on slopes at altitudes of 200-600 meters, require minimal human care, so their prices are relatively low, and they are mostly used for canned and instant coffee.

Arabica and Robusta varieties mostly grow in temperate climate regions, primarily distributed between 25° south latitude and 25° north latitude centered around the equator, an area also known as the "coffee belt." This region covers most countries in Central Africa, East Africa, the Middle East, India, South Asia, Pacific regions, Latin America, and Caribbean areas. Coffee is mainly concentrated in this region because coffee is extremely vulnerable to frost damage, and the temperature and humidity in tropical regions are most suitable for coffee growth.

Variety Classification

Due to the numerous sub-branches under the two main coffee bean varieties, I will only introduce some of the more famous varieties.

Arabica Coffee:

Typica originates from Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan, making it one of the oldest varieties among Arabica species. Its top leaves are reddish-brown, known as red-top coffee, and also called old-variety small-grain coffee. Due to low yield and difficult cultivation, its price is much higher than ordinary small-grain coffee. However, its flavor performance is excellent, making it a recognized specialty coffee variety.

Robusta Coffee:

Kopi Luwak, also known as civet coffee, is made when civets eat coffee fruits and excrete the coffee beans unchanged. People extract the coffee beans from their feces for processing.

This coffee is produced in Indonesia and is currently one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with prices reaching hundreds of dollars per pound. When civets eat ripe coffee fruits and excrete them through their digestive system, the resulting coffee has a unique flavor due to stomach fermentation, making it highly sought after in the international market.

Knowledge Extension

Liberica, like Robusta, is highly pest-resistant and suitable for hot and humid environments, but it has not been widely cultivated and is mostly grown only in the South African region.

In Brief

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall that loves to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share unreservedly just to help more friends fall in love with coffee, and we hold three low-discount coffee events every month. This is because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest prices, which has also been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473